Fall work JBP Needle Pulling

[Adair M]

Yesterday, I gave a class at Plant City Bonsai, and demonstrated how to pull needles, and the whys and wherefores. I only did a little to show the effect. I’ve done some more, this morning:

Before:



After:



The “before” image does have some needles pulled already.

I have a long way to go!

The other task I’m performing is to remove the stubs left behind from the decandling.

The guys in Japan will hold a pair of tweezers in one hand and scissors in the other and perform both operations at once! I could do that, but I’m more relaxed about it. I pull needles for a while and then switch tasks to finding and cutting stubs. Then again I don’t have dozens and dozens of trees to do like the apprentices!

 

[Japonicus]

Wish I could've been there. Missed ya by 2 weeks
That's a super fine ...Black pine.

Do you have any classes next year anywhere from Lex Cinn Col areas
or anywhere closer to our tristate area?

 

[Norcalkbonsai]

Great looking tree, thanks for sharing @Adair M

 

[0soyoung]

I've noticed that back buds tend to have very long needles. Pulling them tends to pull off the nascent shoot/branch - obviously one can cut them near or in the sheaths instead.

Will a needle-less nascent shoot and bud survive?

Alternatively, would you, @Adair M, say that one should just pull all long/old needles and it is really no loss if one removes nascent/branch?

 

[Adair M]

I've noticed that back buds tend to have very long needles. Pulling them tends to pull off the nascent shoot/branch - obviously one can cut them near or in the sheaths instead.

Will a needle-less nascent shoot and bud survive?

Alternatively, would you, @Adair M, say that one should just pull all long/old needles and it is really no loss if one removes nascent/branch?

As always, 0so, “it depends”. In working this pine, there are lots of “needle buds” that are forming. The vast majority of which I don’t need, and I just pull them off. If, however, I do need them, I leave them alone. And if the long needles are too much of a distraction, I’ll cut those few needles. Not all the way off, but cut them to roughly the same length as the ones on the summer shoots. A few brown tips won’t matter.

As an example:



See that bud in the middle? And it has two pairs of long needles, one on each side? Well, for now, I’ll leave them. If those long needles bug me, or if I decide to show the tree, l can cut them in half.

 

[cmeg1]

You have some awesome Pines.

 

[Vance Wood]

I've noticed that back buds tend to have very long needles. Pulling them tends to pull off the nascent shoot/branch - obviously one can cut them near or in the sheaths instead.

Will a needle-less nascent shoot and bud survive?

Alternatively, would you, @Adair M, say that one should just pull all long/old needles and it is really no loss if one removes nascent/branch?

It is a questionable technique on a Mugo Pine for those who are interested.

 

[Adair M]

And here it is after needle pulling. No wire. Yet.



I’ll wait a couple weeks before I wire it. The needles are still a little soft.

 

[the1only]

Please recommend good tweezers for pulling BP needles. Thank you Adair.

 

[just.wing.it]

Please recommend good tweezers for pulling BP needles. Thank you Adair.

Check the "beauty supplies" isle at any store.
There are many to choose from.
I like relatively long ones with an angled tip..

 

[Dav4]

Please recommend good tweezers for pulling BP needles. Thank you Adair.

These are the ones I use… Recommended to me a few years ago by Adair. I believe Jonas carries them at Bonsai! tonight

 

[the1only]

Thank you.

 

[Adair M]

These are the ones I use… Recommended to me a few years ago by Adair. I believe Jonas carries them at Bonsai! tonight
View attachment 268701

Jonas sells several versions. They all start off as being medical tissue forceps. The tips are ground down to make them more pointed. The ones I use are pretty sharp. This assists when you need to get into small spaces. And yet, they’re still strong enough to grab onto and pull needles. Don’t get flimsy tweezers.

The ones American Bonsai sells are nice and sturdy, and the have good teeth for grabbing needles, but they’re too fat. I guess they would be ok for some tasks, but my trees are highly refined, and I need to get into tiny nooks and crevasses, so I prefer the thinner styles.

I use tweezers more than any other tool in my kit, and I have 5 or 6 pair.

You can reach Jonas at: www.Bonsaitonight.com.

 

[bwaynef]

Jonas sells several versions. They all start off as being medical tissue forceps. The tips are ground down to make them more pointed.

Wet stones and 3-4 minutes and you can have them ground down to size/shape if you know what you're doing.

 

[0soyoung]

if you know what you're doing.

Ahhh. That old caveat to any/everything bonsai.

 

[DirkvanDreven]

Jonas sells several versions. They all start off as being medical tissue forceps. The tips are ground down to make them more pointed. The ones I use are pretty sharp. This assists when you need to get into small spaces. And yet, they’re still strong enough to grab onto and pull needles. Don’t get flimsy tweezers.

The ones American Bonsai sells are nice and sturdy, and the have good teeth for grabbing needles, but they’re too fat. I guess they would be ok for some tasks, but my trees are highly refined, and I need to get into tiny nooks and crevasses, so I prefer the thinner styles.

I use tweezers more than any other tool in my kit, and I have 5 or 6 pair.

You can reach Jonas at: www.Bonsaitonight.com.

My teacher won't let us pull needles. We cut needles, to promote needle buds. Pulling needles pulls also the dormant bud in between them?

 

[Adair M]

My teacher won't let us pull needles. We cut needles, to promote needle buds. Pulling needles pulls also the dormant bud in between them?

Yes, it does. But, for the most part, I don’t want needle buds. If fact, I pulled many pairs of needles where I could see a bud in between them.

If, however, I did need backbudding in between internodes where I did have needles, then I would keep the needles. That is on rougher stock that more in the development stage. This tree is in refinement, where I have lots of little twigs. Many even too many!

So, different techniques are applied to trees in different stages of development.

 

[Japonicus]

I’ll wait a couple weeks before I wire it. The needles are still a little soft.

That's an intimacy not all share the luxury of having such experience in the brain...
between the hands and the eyes. I wish I could say I share the same, I do not.

@Adair M you recently mentioned we wait till December to work on our JBP
and I assume by then all needles will be completely hardened off.
Is this BP one that is going to show, or just used as an example in your class, or
are you getting a head start on all your trees, now that you're probably done with your WP?

 

[Adair M]

That's an intimacy not all share the luxury of having such experience in the brain...
between the hands and the eyes. I wish I could say I share the same, I do not.

@Adair M you recently mentioned we wait till December to work on our JBP
and I assume by then all needles will be completely hardened off.
Is this BP one that is going to show, or just used as an example in your class, or
are you getting a head start on all your trees, now that you're probably done with your WP?

Yes, I gave a class, and used it as an demonstration. I was able to get a little of the crown done, but that was it. Once I got it home, I couldn’t stand seeing it just partially cleaned, so I finished pulling needles. Wiring would make me have to move them around some more, and I can wait a couple weeks. We’re supposed to have temperatures in the thirties later this week! That will cause the pines to harden off!